Buy, Break In and Care for Hiking Boots

BUYING BOOTS

The best time to go shopping for boots is in the afternoon or evening. Why? As we walk around during the day, our feet tend to swell, ending up larger than they were in the morning. Your feet are likely to swell even more after a day of carrying a pack. By shopping in the evening, you can avoid buying a boot that felt snug in the store, but feels like hell on earth after a day of hiking in the blazing sun.

Boot manufacturing is a profit-making business; hence hype and advertising gimmicks are involved. It is not the case that the fanciest high-tech name signifies the best boot. Most of what you see on first appearance will have nothing to do with the quality and fit of a boot. Keep this in mind. You are not out to buy something that will make you look good. You are out to buy a boot that will make everything golden for your feet and legs.

Before purchasing boots, examine them for manufacturing defects. Put the boot on a table and look at it from the back. The heel counter should sit vertical and the sole flat, without warping. Looking at the side, the toe area may turn up a little, giving a rocker effect, but this should not be too severe. Of course, every boot should be equal to its mate. Superficial scuffs, however, are of no significant importance.



Once you have a boot ready to try on, put on the socks you will likely use on upcoming hikes, and if you have orthotics, put them in the shoe. Put on both boots and lace them up. After you have laced a boot up, if the two sides of the upper touch, it is too wide; you won’t be able to tighten your boots properly. Try a different style of boot. You should be able to wiggle your toes; however, the shoe should not be so big that the heel slips. Too tight a shoe will cause toe blisters, especially when walking downhill; and too loose a shoe will cause back-of-the-heel blisters, as the heel slips in the shoe. If possible, try walking downhill in boots before buying them. Have someone hold down the boot to the floor and see if you can raise your heel inside. If it slides up more than a fraction of an inch, it’s too loose. Kick forward inside the boot. If your toes hit the tip, they are too tight. It is important that the boot be flexible enough to bend at the ball of the foot while holding the heel stable.

If your feet are of significantly different sizes, it is possible (but expensive) to buy mismatched boots. However, it is probably better to fit the boot to the larger foot and pad the boot for the smaller foot. To accommodate a slight limb length difference, you can add an extra insole to the short leg’s boot. Using a full foot lift is preferable to only using a heel lift. If you need more than one-quarter inch, it is probably better to take the boot to a shoe repair store and have them add the appropriate lift to the outsole. If one foot is slightly smaller, the ideal way to pad the boot is to add a felt tongue pad, a one-quarter-inch piece of adhesive felt that is glued under the tongue of the boot. It keeps the foot pushed back in the shoe.

When buying boots, remember that they have three dimensions. People understand a shoe has length and width, but not everyone realizes that certain shoes have more depth in the toe box than others. This is the type of boot you should be looking for.

I personally do not see how it is possible to buy a shoe through mail order, unless you have tried on the exact boot in some store prior to ordering. Boots are so personal that they must be tried on. If you order by mail, be careful; be sure you can exchange the boots if necessary.

Once you have decided on a pair of boots, see if the store has a return policy. This policy enables you to wear the boots around the house and give them a shake-down to see if any potential problems creep up; step outside, however, and they’re yours, whether they fit or not.